• Biblical Families is not a dating website. It is a forum to discuss issues relating to marriage and the Bible, and to offer guidance and support, not to find a wife. Click here for more information.

Children

redfox

redfox

Member
How do you introduce the children of your sisterwife? How do the kids explain the presence of other children in your house?

When I am out with sw's baby along with my own, with people who don't know about sw, I usually call him the spare baby or the one that I'm babysitting. Occasionally my blabbermouth 8yo will pipe up that he's their brother, but I try to brush that off. Technically, I'm not lying since if I'm out with him it's usually because I am babysitting while his mom works....

I am not sure how to handle it though. I want the kids to be able to acknowledge their brother, but at the same time, there are so many issues associated with it, and we are not really "public" with it at this point. We would prefer it to stay that way for now.

Would it be easier for the kids to regard their half-siblings as cousins? Would that make it easier to explain? Or is that stretching the truth too far?
 
We used their name when introducing them...period.

Our kids called each other brothers and sisters and when challenged to explain further they simply changed the subject.

When we adults were questioned about our living arrangements we simply steered the conversation in a different direction. For those determined to push for answers, we smiled sweetly and responded with "Why is it your concern?"

Just because there are people who have no manners does not mean the rest of us have to behave like them.
 
Just because there are people who have no manners does not mean the rest of us have to behave like them.
Click to expand...

True :) Our kids are fairly young though, so teaching them to steer the conversation away is tricky. Plus they are proud of their brother.

Some of the difficulty is that this is recent... I have 7 children, sw has 1 plus another coming. So the extra one stands out a bit. He's 9mos and my youngest is 3mos. If they were further apart it would be a little easier to 'hide' him amongst the other kids, but it doesn't quite work that way :) We are also generally around people we've known for a very long time, and they kinda notice little things like that ;)
 
"my friends baby", of course assuming that she is your friend :D

when the kids refer to him as their brother, "he really is like their own brother".
 
Well... 'friend' depends on the day ;) I have used that line before too though. I hate 'correcting' the kids though when they claim their brother... they don't really understand yet.
 
Ha,
We are definitely dealing with this now and we do the changing the subject thing. I like to tell the truth myself and just not give details about what adults have realtions with what other adults-besides the agreed "legal protection" type party line! It sounds wierd for you-can u say he is the twin of ur last baby- hahahahahaha! JK! In our situation my kids are VERY obviously not realted to the other kids! I am still figuring it out-good luck!
 
Lol, no chance they could be twins ;) My little man is a teeny little redheaded imp, while hers is a chunky tank of a thing :D He kinda stands out, since all of our kids look a lot alike, and he's very different with his *very* blond hair and chubby cheeks :)
 
This story isn't about poly, but it applies:

My older brother and one of our first cousins are 2 weeks apart in age. Mom tells us that when she and her sister would take the cousins for a stroll in the park, she got tired of everyone asking if they were twins. So on more than one occasion, she would say, "Yes, born 2 weeks apart." She said some of the ladies actually believed her...

So maybe, if you can keep a straight face, you could try, "Yes, they are identical twins, born 6 months apart." :lol: :lol: :lol:

Oh, and you can add, "They are dressed differently so I can tell which is which."
 
Marvin,

That's hilarious! I'm sure there are a lot of people that really would believe it!

Redfox,

I usually say that they are my friend's children. My kids are tall, blonde and blue or brown eyed. Hers have dark brown hair, dark skin and dark eyes and are shorter, so there is quite a visual difference between the kids. Even so, there are still people who have assumed that they were my kids, especially if they know that I have 9 children. Robert's idea is for me to say that they are his step-children. I think it's honest, brilliant and hilarious and would take someone a while to muddle through!

We haven't been blessed with the challenge of explaining half-brothers or sisters yet, but we're hoping!

Katie
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top